Method and apparatus for image capture, compression and transmission of a visual image over telephonic or radio transmission system

ABSTRACT

An image capture, conversion, compression, storage and transmission system provides a data signal representing the image in a format and protocol capable of being transmitted over any of a plurality of readily available transmission systems and received by readily available, standard equipment receiving stations. The system is adapted to be installed in a standard cellular phone configuration, providing a portable, hand held, wireless transmission system for transmitting video image signals to a remote receiving station.

CROSS REFERENCE

[0001] The present invention is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/005/932, filed on Jan. 12, 1998 entitled “Methodand Apparatus for Image Capture, Compression and Transmission of aVisual Image over Telephonic or Radio Transmission System,” and isassigned to the Assignee of the co-pending application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The invention is generally related to image capture andtransmission systems and is specifically directed to an image capture,compression and transmission system specifically designed for fieldapplications with wired, wireless and/or synchronous serial devices.

[0004] 2. Discussion of the Prior Art

[0005] Industry has developed and continues to develop and enhancetechniques for scanning, compressing, transmitting, receiving,decompressing and printing documents. This technology, encompassing thefull body of facsimile transmission and reception, is currently inwidespread use. The current standards, CCITT Group III and Group IV,define methods to scan and transmit high quality, bi-level images with ahigh degree of success and has become commercially acceptable throughoutthe world. However, gray scale documents and images are not easilytransmitted because the scanners and algorithms are not tailored to thefunction. Three dimensional objects will not fit into the flat documentscanners and cannot be transmitted.

[0006] Examples of systems that have addressed some of these issues areshown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,012 which shows a video to facsimile signalconverter, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,251,937 which discloses a system fortransmitting still television pictures over a telephone line.

[0007] Vie photography, and its extension, radio photography, have longbeen used by the news media. The most common form involves an inputdevice that converts photographs into encoded signals for communicationover telecommunications facilities or radio. At the receiving end,reproducing equipment reconverts the encoded image signals by exposingphotographic film or other sensitized paper. The term facsimile is oftenuse with these products.

[0008] Still video equipment has recently become available from vendorssuch as Canon and Sony, and is again primarily used by the televisionand print media, although applications are expanding rapidly in suchareas as insurance investigations and real estate transactions. A stillvideo camera that captures a full color still video image can bereproduced using a special video printer that converts the still videoimage data into hard copy form. For applications requiring communicationof the still video image, transmit/receive units are available whereinthe image begins and ends as a video image.

[0009] The PhotoPhone from Image Data Corporation is an example of aspecialty product that combines a video camera, display and storagefacility in a terminal package. One terminal can send a real time orstored still video image to another for display or storage, or printingon special video printers. Again, the signal begins and ends as a videoimage.

[0010] Another example of a specialty product is peripheral equipmentavailable for personal computers that enables the input/output, storageand processing of still video images in digitized formats. For instance,the Canon PV-540 is a floppy disk drive that uses conventional stillvideo disks, digitizing and a still video image using a conventionalformat, and communicates with the computer through a standardcommunications I/O port.

[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,012 discloses a still-video to facsimileconversion system for converting the still-video image frame into ahalf-tone facsimile reproduction without having to store an entireintermediated gray scale image frame by repeatedly transmitting thestill-video image frame from a still-video source to an input circuitwith a virtual facsimile page synchronization module . This systempermits image to facsimile conversion by utilizing a half toneconversion technique.

[0012] While the various prior art systems and techniques providelimited solutions to the problem of transmitting visual images via afacsimile transmission system, all fall short of providing a reliablemethod and apparatus for readily capturing, storing, transmitting andprinting visual images in a practical manner.

[0013] An example of a system that addresses many of these problems isshown and described in the copending application of David A. Monroe andJohn _. Frassanito, filed on ______, 1997, and entitled: APPARATUS FORCAPTURING, CONVERTING AND TRANSMITTING A VISUAL IMAGE SIGNAL VIA ADIGITAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM. The system described therein provides theapparatus for capturing, compressing, converting, transmitting andreceiving a facsimile using digital transmission techniques andprotocols.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0014] The subject invention is an image capture, compression andtransmission system that is specifically designed to permit reliablevisual image transmission over land lines or cellular communicationsusing commercially available data transmission techniques. The preferredembodiment captures the high-resolution (640×480) full color images fromany NTSC source like video cameras, monochrome image intensifiers,monochrome night visions devices (such as FLIRs) and the like. Dependingon application, medium and low resolution may also be selected based onuser selection. The system can be operated locally or remotely throughthe host interface software. In the remote mode, the image can becaptured, stored and/or transmitted by remote “dial up” using land linetelephone or cellular systems, or other communications systsems such asradio or the like. In the preferred embodiment, the system firmware maybe loaded and accessed for troubleshooting via remote access as well.

[0015] The system of the present invention is specifically designed tooperate over the public switched land line telephonic systems (POTS) andcellular services. The invention is designed with a hardware port fordigital radio operation, as well.

[0016] Operating in correlation with a PC running WIN '95 or NT4.0 orthe equivalent, the system of the present invention provides a completeimagery communication system for commercial communications networks,providing a versatile remote imagery terminal for radio, cellular orland line based telephone systems. The preferred embodiment of theinvention is fully compatible with and integrates with a standard AMPcellular phone such as by way of example, a Motorola flip phone, andsupports NTSC monochrome composite and S-video sources including videocameras, camcorders, VCRs, still image cameras, image intensifiers andFLIR-night vision devices. In the preferred embodiment, all of thecircuitry for the system is on a card or slice which is inserted betweenthe battery pack and the body of a standard Motorola cellular phone.Full isolation of the system circuitry is provided, permitting powerpreservation for cellular telephone use when data transmission is notactivated.

[0017] The present invention, permits a still frame visual image to becaptured at a remote location and either stored locally or sentimmediately, over land line or wireless communication systems, to aremote location such as, by way of example, a computer system whereinthe image could be merged directly into newsprint. The image may also beprinted as a hard copy using any Windows based printer or Group-IIIfacsimile machine, anywhere in the world. Where desired, the images maybe stored in memory for later recall, and may be archived on a portablemedium such as a memory card or the like. In addition to multipleresolution capability, the system may be used with multiple compressionalgorithms such as JPEG, wavelet and other compression schemes.

[0018] In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the controller isprogrammed to permit smart addressing of the video RAM, allowing for rowor column access to the image data, decimation and non-linear,sequential pixel access.

[0019] The system of the subject invention is particularly useful forapplications where immediate transmission of visual images are desirableand sophisticated equipment is not always available for receiving theinformation. The system also provides a unique and reliable means fortransmitting visual data from remote locations, such as, by way ofexample, construction sites, law enforcement and emergency vehicles andthe like.

[0020] It is, therefore, an object and feature of the invention toprovide an apparatus for capturing, converting and transmitting a visualimage over land line or wireless telephone systems, such as cellular, orprivate wireless radio systems.

[0021] It is another object and feature of the invention to provide anapparatus for compressing the visual image data in order to minimize thecapacity requirements of the data capture and storage system and tominimize the transmission time over the transmission media.

[0022] It is an additional object and feature of the invention toprovide an apparatus for capturing converting and transmitting imagesover other wireless transmission systems such as radio and satellite.

[0023] Other objects and features will be readily apparent from thedrawings and detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical hand held cellulartelephone with the image transmission system of the subject inventionintegrated therein.

[0025]FIG. 2 is a side view of the transmission system, showing the sidenot visible in FIG. 1.

[0026]FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the assembly for the preferredembodiment of the subject invention.

[0027]FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the circuitry of the preferredembodiment of the subject invention.

[0028]FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary-embodiment of thesubject invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0029] The image capture and transmission system of the subjectinvention is suited for capturing a single frame analog image signal andtransmitting the captured signal via either a cellular or land linetelephone system. The preferred embodiment is shown and described and isparticularly well suited for use in combination with a standard Motorolaflip phone. The camera is not part of the system and the image capturedby the camera is introduced into the system via standard cable, as willbe described.

[0030] Turning now to FIG. 1, a: hand held cellular telephone 10 isshown with the image transmission system 12 mounted integrally therein.A standard Motorola FlipPhone® is shown. However, it will be readilyunderstood by those who are skilled in the arts that the invention canbe readily adapted to other telephone configurations. The cellulartelephone includes a flip cover 14, and LED panel 15, a keypad 16 and anantenna 18, as is standard. The battery pack 20 is normally secureddirectly to the phone body 11. In the preferred embodiment of theinvention, the transmission system 12 is inserted between the batterypack 20 and the body 11, as shown. The battery pack 20 provides thepower for both the telephone and die transmission system. The standardconnectors between the battery pack and the phone body are utilized tocouple the transmission system 12 to the standard battery pack and thephone. The cable 22 and connector 24 are used to connect the system 12and phone 10. The connector 24 is connected to the phone via thestandard phone hands free (or data) port 25. The various controlbuttons, status readouts and ports for operating the transmission system12 with the telephone 10 are located on the opposite side panels 26(FIG. 1) and 28 (FIG. 2) of the transmission system housing.

[0031] An exploded view of the assembly of the image facsimiletransmission system 12 of the present invention is shown in FIG. 3. Thehousing 30 is an open topped box of standard construction, typically anunitary member of high impact plastic or similar material. The housingmay be custom molded in the well known manner. Seated in the housing 30is the processor board 32, containing the processor 34 and othercircuitry, as more fully shown in block diagram form in FIG. 4. Themodem board 36 is placed over the processor board 32. The housing cover38 fits over the entire assembly and sits on the top edges of thesidewalls of the box 30 to close the unit. The processor board 32 isseated directly on pads 40 provided in the box and held in place bystandoff screws 42. The modem board 36 is seated directly on the standoff posts 42 and the cover 38 is placed over the modem board 36. Theassembly is then secured in assembled relationship by screws 44. Awindow 46 provides an opening in alignment with the power connectors onthe telephone 10, permitting the power interface 46 mounted on board 36to communicate directly with the cellular telephone 10. Also mounted onthe modem board 36 is a RJ-11 switch 50 for switching between POTS andcellular or radio and an insulated mini-phono jack 52 for video inputand remote trigger signals.

[0032] The landline hook-up can be used whether or not the system isinstalled on the cellular telephone 10. A latch 54 is installed in thelatch recess 55 provided in the box 30, and is spring loaded in thelatched position by spring 56. The latch 55 permits the entire assemblyto be secured to the flip phone 10 in the same manner as the batterypack 20 would be secured in a non-modified phone configuration. Thebattery pack 20 is mounted on the outside of the bottom 58 of the box30, with the power connections being interfaced to the phone 10 via theinterface window 60 in the box 30, and interface circuitry 62 in theprocessor board 32 and 48 in the modem board 36. The displays andcontrol button switches are mounted in openings provided in the sidewalls of the box 30, as better seen in FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0033] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a series of LED readout lamps 64 a-dare provided on side 26, 28 of the box 30. The control switches orbuttons 66 a-h are also located on the two sides of 26, 28 of the box30. In the preferred embodiment, the lamp 64 a indicates a busyprocessor signal, the lamp 64 b indicates when the system is in asending mode. Button 66 d controls selection of the send mode. The lamps64 c indicate image storage capacity level. The button switches 66 e and66 f controls the abort mode and erase mode, respectively. The controlbuttons 66 a-c are on the opposite side panel 26 of the box 30 andinclude video input format switch 66 a, resolution select button 66 b anON/OFF button switch 66 c. High medium and low resolution indicatorlamps 64 e are also on this side panel. Switch 66 h is the data captureswitch.

[0034] The circuitry housed on the processor board 32 and the modemboard 36 is shown in FIG. 4. The circuitry is partitioned into distinctfunctional areas, as follows: DC/DC convertor power supply 70; pushbutton control switches 66; lamps 64; the video decoder circuit 72;video buffer 74; frame and video buffer controller 76; image and programstore 78; data Ram and program store 80; digital signal processor 82;RS-232 level synchronous and asynchronous ports 84; modem 86; RJ-11presence switch (see FIG. 3); and the I/O decoder 88.

[0035] The system is a battery operated frame grabber, video compressor,image transmission device adapted for accepting NTSC, composite orS-video as an input. In the preferred embodiment, it has a Harvardarchitecture DSP engine for compression and transmission. Transmissionis accomplished via several methods, the asynchronous RS-232 port, thesynchronous RS-232 port a cellular phone compatible modem or a land linemodem interface. The modem 86 is implemented on the daughter board 36(FIG. 3). The daughter board interface (not shown) allows other optionalfunctions to be designed in place of the modem in the well-known manner.

[0036] The system memory is separated into two access areas: the programand data memory 80, each of which is 64K words; and the memory 78accessed by a decode of the DSP address bus and the I/O instructions. Aseparate I/O address is implemented to allow contiguous memory blocks ofgreater than 64K words as is required for the large number of words in aframe of video. A programmable logic device (PLD) 76 provides theregisters, extended I/O address and additional “glue logic” required.

[0037] The power supply 70 is adapted to receive between 5.5 Vdc and 8.2Vdc which can be accepted as input to the DC/DC converter for providingoutput voltage of 5.0 VDC. The video format selection is controlled by acombination of a single three conductor video input jack, and a slideswitch 66 a (FIG. 1) to indicate either S-video/monochrome or composite.The video inputjack is a mini-phono jack 52, which will have the sleeveconnected to ground. The tip contact is Y (luma) and the ring contact isC (chrominance) if the input is S-video. For composite or monochromevideo inputs, the tip contact is the video. The Remote Capture Interfaceis a mini-phone jack 50, which provides both capture functions and busyLED feedback. The slide switch 66 a provides a status bit to be read bythe software. This bit is assigned to a bit position 10 in the generalstatus register. For example, in the composite position the switch 66 ais open and this is read as logic one in the register.

[0038] The video decoder 72 may be adapted to accept both S-video orcomposite PAL, NTSC OR SECAM signals. The video is input through themini-phono jack 52 and is detected and available to the processor 82 viathe video status bits in the system status register. In the preferredembodiment the decoder 72 is a Brooktree Bt829 which automaticallydetects PAL/SECAM and NTSC video standards. The format detected isavailable in the register set. The device features an extensive set ofregisters accessible via its I²C interface. These registers may be usedto program the decoder to any of a variety of formats, as more fullydescribed in the Bt829/Bt827 VideoStream II Decoders Manual, September,1996, incorporated by reference herein. The decoder may be programmed toproduce either 640×480 YcrCb images from an NTSC source or 768×576 YcrCbimages from a PAL source. The decoder is powered on by a command fromthe processor 82 prior to capture of a frame and off by a command fromthe processor 82 upon completion of the capture of a frame. The decoderis isolated from the rest of the system by zero load buffers andisolation switches to allow power control. In the preferred embodiment,the decoder takes approximately 0.5 seconds to lock onto a valid videosource. The decoder may be programmed 10 milliseconds after the decoderon command is initiated.

[0039] The video decoder 72 is controlled by an I²C Bus interface, whichis implemented in the PLD 76 and accessed by software using bitpositions 0 and 1, for SDA and SCL, respectively, in the I²C controlregister. A third bit, bit 2, is available for changing between masterand slave mode. The default position is slave. This is further describedin the Brooktree BT829/BT827 data sheet, incorporated by referenceherein.

[0040] The video buffer 74 is a 16 bits wide by 512K deep buffer. Thebuffer holds one complete frame of NTSC square pixel imagery. The videobuffer is written to by the video controller 76 which conditions thecontrol signals provided by the video decoder 72. The buffer 74 is readby the processor 82 via the controller 76 which also conditions thecontrol signals provided by the processor during an I/O operation. Thevideo buffer is mapped into the processor I/O space. An extended I/Oaddress is generated in a PLD. When the most significant bit extendedi/o address 31 (MSB ElOAD31) of the I/O address bus is 0, the videobuffer is selected.

[0041] The frame detector, extended address and video controllercircuitry 76 identifies the start of a frame and initiates the captureof that frame. Image capture is initiated under software control bywriting a logic 1 to bit position 6 (SNAP) of the power management andcommand register. The controller will issue a HOLD to the processor 82,and upon receipt of the acknowledge (HOLDA), takes control of theprocessor data bus. The controller waits for the odd field to start andthen saves two consecutive fields in contiguous memory. As part of thecapture sequence, this circuitry resets the extended address bus to allzeroes as the location of the first pixel data, auto increments theaddress and generates the write strobe for the video buffer 74 inresponse to the control inputs from the decoder 72. Upon completion ofthe frame, HOLD is released. The software is responsible for clearingthe SNAP bit after released and before commanding another capture.

[0042] The controller 76 also provides the control signals and extendedI/O address bus for reading the image in response to I/O operations bythe processor 82. The extended I/O address bus operation is programmableby the processor. Three registers control operation of this bus. Thefirst two set the base address used as the starting address. Since theaddress bus is 20 bits wide, two I/O locations are used to write thebase address from the processor's 16 bit data bus. The third register isthe offset register. The offset is added to the base address after eachread or write to generate the next address to be accessed. This permitsconvenient traversing either across a line of pixels or down a column ofpixels. During boot by the processor 82 the extended address bus willinitialize to 0000H and the increment by one after each read strobe ofthe processor. This requires that the module to be loaded be located atthe bottom of the image/program store 78. Since the processor 82 usesonly the least significant byte when booting, this section of coderequires two memory locations for each word of executable code. Eachword of the program must be divided into two bytes and loaded upper bytelower byte in that order into successive memory locations. Location0000H must have the upper byte of the destination in program memory, andlocation 0001H must have the lower byte of the destination. The next twolocations 0002H and 0003H must contain the upper byte and lower byte ofthe length in bytes to be loaded. This is more fully covered in the BootLoader section of the TMS320C2xx User's Guide, incorporated by referenceherein. Wait states for all memory accessed via the extended address buswill be controlled by the extended address bus controller.

[0043] The image and program storage 80 is a 16 bit×1 M flash filememory, providing lifetime up to 1 million erase cycles per block.Addresses are generated by the controller PLD 76 and the DSP 82. Theimage and program storage is mapped into I/O space except at processorboot. At power up, the designated boot block will be mapped into programspace and the boot program loaded from the program storage FLASH RAM(78) into the program RAM 80. Upon completion of the boot operation, theprogram storage will revert to I/O space. The image and program store isselected in extended I/O memory space by setting the MSB EIOAD31, of theextended address to 1. Two wait states will be required for access tothis memory. The number of wait states is controlled by the extendedaddress bus controller. In the preferred embodiment, an Intel 28F016SVflash memory is used. Programming is controlled by the register set onthe flash chip and the busy signal it provides. The busy signal RY/BY isinverted and connected to INT3 of the processor 82. This flash partfeatures a 128 word buffer to allow writing of a page of data at a time.Complete details of this device are further described in the Intel datasheet, July, 1995 and the Specification Update, July, 1996, incorporatedby reference herein.

[0044] The data and program run RAM 80 are each 64K words. The softwarewill be responsible for controlling the software wait state register inthe processor 82 for data and program ram access.

[0045] The data signal processor (DSP) 82 of the preferred embodiment isa Texas Instruments TMS320LC203 and has an advanced Harvardarchitecture, software programmable wait states, a synchronous serialport, and an asynchronous serial port. On board RAM, 544 words, isaccessible as either data or program ram. A 20 MHz oscillator will beused which results in single cycle instructions taking 50 ns. Theprocessor monitors the control switches 66, interprets the commands andperforms the tasks commanded, which include: (1) powering up and down;(2) loading the boot code; (3) initiating video capture; (4) videocompression; (5) image transmission over the modem a) to wirelesstelephone; b) to landline; (6) image transmission over the RS-232 port;(7) reprogramming the flash memory; and (8) COMSEC interface over theRS-232 port. More complete details of the processor 82 are included inthe Texas Instruments Data Sheet and Users Guide, incorporated byreference herein.

[0046] The on board cellular phone compatible modem 86 is set tointerface to the cellular phone 10 through the cellular line interfacedrivers and receivers. The drivers and receivers provide any requiredlevel translation and connect to the cellular phone connector. Anisolation circuit 87 is utilized before the cellular phone interface.This is accomplished by using an FET pack that is switched active andnon-active by the RJ11 selection circuit: (1) Async with DTR dataterminal ready; and or (2) Sync radio interface cable ID/DTR; or (3)Branch telephonic DAA, (a) RJ-11 switch or (b) cellular.

[0047] The modem provides a host interrupt to the processor 82, assignedto INTP of the processor A. DAA (Direct Access Arrangement) circuit isprovided for connection to the POTS telephone line. The isolationcircuit is adapted to power down the entire data capture andtransmission module whenever a data input signal is not present,preserving battery power. The system powers up only when the userengages the capture sequence by depressing the capture switch and beginstransmission. In the preferred embodiment, the power up sequence takes0.5 second.

[0048]FIG. 5 is an exemplary schematic of one embodiment of theinvention, incorporating the features shown and described in FIG. 4. Thepin and wire numbers are shown in the drawing. Viewing part A of thedrawing from left to right, module 101 provides cellular phone power“on” “off”. The microcontroller unit 103 is the modem controller. Module104 is a crystal circuit for the modem 105. Amplifier 106 is a speakeramplifier. Part B shows the modem RAM 107 and the modem program storagememory 108. Part C is the cell phone interface section of the circuit.The amplifier 109 is the D.C. reference buffer. Amplifier 110 is themodem RX signal amplifier and signal conditioner. Amplifier 111 is thePOTS landline RX amplifier and signal conditioner. Switches 112 are thecell phone isolation switches. The blocked area 113 provide cell phoneEMI filters. Part D is the POTS direct access arrangement, with signallevel clamping circuitry 114, with an isolation transformer at 115. ACisolation is provided by the capacitor network 116 comprising capacitorsC26 and C27. The blocked area 117 is the POTS line loading currentcontrol. The diode bridge 118 provides a polarity bridge. Switch 48 at119 provides “off hook” or open line switch and a ring detectioncircuit. A surge protector is provided at 121, and an EMI filternetworks provided at 122. Part E is the power management circuitry.Circuit 123 is the battery voltage sensor. The power switch is providedat 125, with the power-up process status driver at 125, the processorpower on switch at 126 and the main power switching circuit atcontroller 129. Switch 130 is the video decoder power.

[0049] Part F is the Processor 131, with the oscillator at 132. Part Gshows the program and data RAM 133 and connectors 134. Part H shows thevideo buffer RAM 135 and 136. The program and image storage flash RAM isshown at 137. Part I includes the video oscillator 138 and video inputand conditioning circuitry 139 for managing input into the video decoder140. The video decoder isolation switches are shown at 141; the videoaddress generator PLP 1142; the videotiming and glue logic PLP 143; thePLD bootstrap logic 144 and the serial PROM (1×256K) boot program module145 for PLD 144.

[0050] Part K includes the remote trigger jack 146, the radio keying FET(PTT) 147; the radio digital mode keying transistor or digital data modecontrol (DDMC) 148 and the serial I/O drivers and receivers 149. Thedata port is designated as 150. Part L is the LED array 151; thecomposite/s-video switch 1152 and the push button array 153.

[0051] The preferred embodiment captures the high-resolution (640×480)full color images from any NTSC source like video cameras, monochromeimage intensifiers, monochrome night visions devices (such as FLIRs) andthe like. Depending on application, medium and low resolution may alsobe selected based on user selection. The system can be operated locallyor remotely through the host interface software. In the remote mode, theimage can be captured, stored and/or transmitted by remote “dial up”using land line telephone or cellular systems, or other communicationssystsems such as radio or the like. In the preferred embodiment, thesystem firmware may be loaded and accessed for troubleshooting viaremote access as well.

[0052] The system of the present invention is specifically designed tooperate over the public switched land line telephonic systems (POTS) andcellular services. The invention is designed with a hardware port fordigital radio operation, as well.

[0053] The preferred embodiment of the invention is fully compatiblewith and integrates with a standard AMP cellular phone such as by way ofexample, a Motorola flip phone, and supports NTSC monochrome compositeand S-video sources including video cameras, camcorders, VCRs, stillimage cameras, image intensifiers and FLIR-night vision devices. In thepreferred embodiment, all of the circuitry for the system is on a cardor slice which is inserted between the battery pack and the body of astandard Motorola cellular phone. Full isolation of the system circuitryis provided, permitting power preservation for cellular telephone usewhen data transmission is not activated.

[0054] The present invention, permits a still frame visual image to becaptured at a remote location and either stored locally or sentimmediately, over land line or wireless communication systems, to aremote location such as, by way of example, a computer system whereinthe image could be merged directly into newsprint. The image may also beprinted as a hard copy using any Windows based printer or Group-IIIfacsimile machine, anywhere in the world. Where desired, the images maybe stored in memory for later recall, and may be archived on a portablemedium such as a memory card or the like. In addition to multipleresolution capability, the system may be used with multiple compressionalgorithms such as JPEG, wavelet and other compression schemes.

[0055] In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the controller isprogrammed to permit smart addressing of the video RAM, allowing for rowor column access to the image data, decimation and non-linear,sequential pixel access.

[0056] Other configurations are contemplated and are within theteachings of the invention. While specific embodiments have been shownand described herein, it will be understood that the invention includesall modifications and enhancements within the scope and spirit of theclaims.

1. A portable audio-visual transceiver for providing a teleconferencingenvironment wherein the transceiver provides a local station for sendingand receiving signals comprising: a. a display screen for displaying areceived image; b. at least one sensor adapted for generating anelectronic video signal representing a teleconference attendee; c. atleast one sensor adapted for generating an electronic audio signalrepresenting the teleconference attendee; d. a transmitter fortransmitting the electronic signals; e. a receiver for receivingelectronic signals; f. a display screen for reproducing a received videosignal; and g. a speaker for reproducing a received audio signal:
 2. Thetransceiver of claim 1, further including a multiplexer for mulitplexinga plurality of transmittable signals prior to transmission.
 3. Thetransceiver of claim 1, further including a demultiplexer for separatinga received signal into at least a separate video signal and a separateaudio signal.
 4. The transceiver of claim 1, further including a videodigitization and compression device.
 5. The transceiver of claim 1,further including an audio digitization compression device.
 6. Thetransceiver of claim 1, further including a data input device.
 7. Thetransceiver of claim 6, wherein the data input device is a keypad. 8.The transceiver of claim one, wherein the transceiver is fortransmitting and receiving signals via a cellular transmission system.9. The transceiver of claim 1, wherein the transceiver is fortransmitting and receiving signals via a surrogate satellite system. 10.The transceiver of claim 1, wherein the transceiver is for transmittingand receiving signals via a satellite system.
 11. The transceiver ofclaim 1, wherein the transceiver is for transmitting and receivingsignals via a plurality of communications systems.
 12. The transceiverof claim 1, wherein the transceiver includes a processor for receivingcontrol signals for controlling the functions of the transceiver. 13.The transceiver of claim 12, wherein the control signals are generatedby the transceiver.
 14. The transceiver of claim 12, wherein the controlsignals are transmitted to and received by the transceiver.
 15. Thetransceiver of claim 1, further including means for transmitting andreceiving graphic signals, wherein received graphic signals may bedisplayed on the display screen.
 16. The transceiver of claim 1, furtherincluding means for transmitting and receiving alpha-numericinformation, wherein the alpha-numeric information may be displayed onthe display screen.